


Can't Stop Loving You (Even if I Tried)

by lilisdivine



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Blink and you'll miss it, F/M, Five Years Later, I apologize in advance, betty struggles with apologizing, bughead rain kiss, but she gets it out eventually, canon adjacent sort of, honestly please just ignore the poor writing, i threw some season two bughead quotes in there, jughead lies because he doesn't want betty to know he's missed her, kind of goes at a fast pace, love confessions in the rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24725281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilisdivine/pseuds/lilisdivine
Summary: It’s been five years since they last spoke, and quite honestly, Betty was surprised that he agreed to meet her at Pop’s. She had to admit, though, that she was impressed with and proud of herself for remembering his usual order.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 9
Kudos: 68





	Can't Stop Loving You (Even if I Tried)

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to @svpreinhart on twitter for the inspiration <3

It’s been five years.

Five years since she kissed her boyfriend’s best friend.

Five years since she finally found the courage to tell him she cheated on him.

Five years since he told her he never wanted to see her again, and left.

It’s been five years since they last spoke, and quite honestly, Betty was surprised that he agreed to meet her at Pop’s. She had to admit, though, that she was impressed with and proud of herself for remembering his usual order.

She waited for him in _their_ booth as she watched the rain trickle down the window and the neon lights from the sign outside illuminate the otherwise pitch black parking lot. She tapped her foot in nervous anticipation.

When she saw a motorcycle pull into the parking lot and the helmet released a head full of black curls that was quickly matted down by the rain, her heart began to pound furiously through her chest. And when she heard the bell from the front door ring and footsteps begin to trudge toward her, she bit her bottom lip hard as the saliva caught in her throat.

He sat across from her with his signature scowl resting across his face, and droplets from his soppy hair dripped onto his food. He didn’t touch his food, but rather he stared at Betty as if he was waiting for her to say something. He was silent, and while she completely understood why, she hated it.

She sat her thighs over her hands as a reminder not to reach across the table and caress the back of his hand, like she would do on their dates in high school. “He-” her voice was hoarse and shaky. She coughed. “Hey. How, uh, how are you?”

“Fine,” he deadpanned, still not making any movement for his food.

“Thanks for coming to meet me,” she said softly, but his posture and face remained emotionless.

Betty swallowed. She brought her hands to her lap and fidgeted with her fingers. She looked down and sighed, trying to think of what to say and where to start. “I’m sorry,” she confessed quietly and looked back up at him.

Still nothing.

“I was… I mean, it was… I just…” Betty silently cursed herself and breathed out lightly, trying to collect herself. “What I’m trying to say is that I understand if you’re still angry with me.”

Jughead rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Understatement of the year,” he avoided eye contact with her, and looked out at the now pounding rain.

“Jug,” she said calmly, trying to get him to look back at her. “I mean it. I’m really sorry. Truly sorry.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “Is that all you wanted to say to me? After five years? That you’re ‘sorry’? Because quite frankly, Betty, you could’ve just texted that to me or called me. Did you think that buying me something from Pop’s was going to butter me up? Make it easier for me to forgive you? Which, for your information, I don’t even like this shit anymore.”

He was lying. She knew he was lying. It’s what he always did in an attempt to prove useless points. But she ignored him. “No, I just thought that it’d be easier to do it in person.” She paused, and tried to think her next words through very carefully. She eventually gave up and blurted out, “And for your information, I did try to text you about two years after we broke up, but you blocked my number. Hence why I had to call you using Jellybean’s phone.” Jellybean blocked Betty’s number, too, after she found out about Betty cheating on Jughead. But she knew that Jellybean still lived with FP, so she knew where she lived. Although, it took quite the convincing to get Jellybean to cave and let Betty use her phone.

“Did you ever think that the reason I blocked your number is because I didn’t want any kind of contact with you? And honestly, can you fucking blame me?”

The last part felt like the equivalent of a jab in the stomach. She knew he was right, how could she blame him? She not only betrayed his trust, but she hurt him in more ways than just emotionally. “If that were true you wouldn’t be here right now. You could have easily just said no. But you didn’t.”

“You know, Betty, I genuinely did not want to hear from you ever again. Up until you called me a few days ago, I forgot about you. Part of me, most of me, wishes you would have listened and stayed away. Just because I showed up doesn’t mean that I don’t still stand by that.”

“What about the little part of you?”

“It’s the reason I’m here, isn’t it? But, like I said, just because I’m here doesn’t mean that I want to see you again after I leave.” He somehow showed no emotion.

“Jug--”

“Stop calling me that,” he snapped.

Betty nodded. “I’m sorry. I'm just... It's been a rough... I want you to know that I'm sorry.” She knew exactly what she wanted to say, but couldn't think of how to put them into words.

He shook his head. “You’ve said that at least three times now and for some reason, I don’t believe you.” He stood up, and barged out of the restaurant and into the pouring rain.

Betty followed him, forgetting about her jacket inside, and when she got outside, Jughead already had his helmet in hand. “Jughead!” She called out, hoping he could hear her over the rain.

He stopped, but she figured that was as close to a response as she was going to get from him. Words that she couldn't think of earlier finally poured out. She'd be damned if she let him go forever without truly letting him know how she still feels about him. “I know I’ve already said it, and I’ll be saying it for the rest of my life, but I’m sorry,” she yelled. “I’ve regretted kissing him since the moment it happened. I was stupid. I've made a lot of stupid mistakes in my life, Jughead, and yet kissing Archie and hurting you is what takes the cake." She gulped. "I’ve thought about the last thing you said to me every day for the past five years. I’ve thought about it, and it hurt me so fucking bad that I could only imagine how much worse I hurt you when I told you, and that it took me so long to tell you.”

There was no sound or movement from him, but she let the rain overtake the silence for a few moments.

“I couldn’t -- no, I wouldn’t -- blame you if you decided to walk away and cut off all ties with me forever... Again. But the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you, and that's exactly what I did.” She raised her voice as the rain grew louder, “And the fact of the matter is, Jughead, no matter how fucking hard I’ve tried, I never stopped loving you!” He dropped his helmet, stomping his way to her through the puddles as they splashed up his jeans. “I’ve tried, but it’s impossible, and I don’t know what--”

He cupped her face into his palms and kissed her. Passionately. Fiercely. Lovingly. Longingly. All in one. It felt like sparks flying for the first time all over again, like butterflies were erupting all throughout her body. She knew the sudden rush of adrenaline came from his body pressed against hers and him holding her, and she didn’t want it to stop.

They both breathed deeply before pulling away. He looked at her, caressing her cheek with one hand, and tucking a strand of soppy hair behind her ear with the other. For the first time all night, he smiled at her, and he couldn’t stop. “I’ve waited five years to hear that,” he choked a laugh out. “And you have no idea how hard it’s been for me to admit to myself that I never stopped loving you, and it’s likely I never will.” They both laughed and rested their foreheads against one another. “As much as I love being out here with you, I don’t want you to get sick, and our food is gonna get cold.”

“I thought you hated 'this shit' now,” she raised an eyebrow and laughed.

Instead of answering, Jughead smirked, and Betty silently praised herself for knowing she was right.

She mocked a scoff and pretended to be offended. “Jughead Jones, did you lie to me?”

He laughed again, and planted a quick peck on her lips. “How about that food,” he smiled, whispering against her lips.


End file.
